"georgepds" wrote in message
...
My 10 year old 10 pound tuxedo (Bella, neutered male) was just
diagnosed with diabetes. The vet says his BG is 400, my wife and I
measured it ( first timers... what excitement) at 437 with a one touch
ultra mini glucometer this evening. The cat does not like it, but it was
not that difficult (we used a paw pad prick with the very strong kitty
wrapped in a towel, she held him and I pricked)

Previously we were feeding him dry food that was ~50% carb. After
reading up on feline diabetes we switched to 7% carb (EVO),

Excellent move! High-carb diets put a heavy demand on beta cells in the
pancreas to secrete insulin- and probably contributes to- if not actually
causes- beta-cell failure in cats that are predisposed to diabetes. I've
weaned several cats off insulin completely simply by feeding them a low-carb
diet--- which is the cat's natural diet in the wild, anyway.



and are
thinking of switching to raw meat. The plan is to watch the BG ( read
every other day) and, should it start to rise, begin a treatment of
insulin. Given my druthers... I'd rather treat the cat by change of
diet, but am willing to go further if needed

My question is should I just simply begin insulin treatment now?

Because you're monitoring his BG at home, you can combine both therapies
(low carb and insulin) and adjust his insulin dosage based on his response
to the low-carb diet. I would check his BG twice a day before giving him
insulin rather than every other day for better control and to avoid insulin
overdose and overlap- especially if you're using glargine (Lantus) insulin-
which is the insulin of choice for diabetic cats.

The quicker you get his BG under control the better the chances of beta-cell
recovery and remission.

Best of luck,

Phil